Business aviation in Africa is a diverse and evolving market, and this year’s Africa Aerospace & Defence (AAD) exhibition is the ideal place to demonstrate its potential.

Nobody understands this better than Danie Joubert, Africa’s Vice President of Sales for Jetcraft. After two decades spent traveling the continent, Joubert’s market expertise is unsurpassed. Joubert embodies the local feel in a global network that makes up the company’s philosophy.

“Just one year since setting up a dedicated resource in South Africa, Jetcraft has brought global connectivity to the continent,” he says. “One example is how African aircraft sellers now have options on their doorstep, rather than needing to contact US or European brokers.”

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Product Overview

The Citation VI is a continuation of the Citation III model, which was designed for optimal speed and utilized lightweight composites and smooth surfaces to cut down on drag. It can climb quickly to flight level and can cruise at a speed of 469 knots.

As of June 2018, 94% of Citation VI aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 6% new. 19.4% are for sale with more than half of those (71%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 441 days

Brief History

Designed as a more economical version of the Citation III, the new Citation VI model delivered lower operating costs plus good speed and range capabilities. It was equipped with a basic standardized avionics package and a generic cabin interior without the option of custom interiors. Unlike the digital autopilot of the Citation III, the Citation VI uses an analog version to cut cost and weight. The Citation VI was delivered in April 1991 and was discontinued in May 1995. A total of 38 Citation VI aircraft have been manufactured with 36 in operation worldwide.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 36 Citation VI aircraft in operation today. Most of these are wholly owned (34), with 2 in shared ownership. None are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of wholly owned Citation VI aircraft (74%), followed by Europe (9%) and Asia (9%).

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Eric H. Roth, President, International Jet Interiors

How long have you been at your current organization?

I started International Jet Interiors 32 years ago – November 5, 1986.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

As President, I touch on every facet of our organization and I remain personally involved from the initial bid through the final delivery. I am very “hands on” and active in the development and daily activities of the company.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

I am in the office by 8am daily and meet with my operations team to attain updates on all current projects. From there I work with my front office on design, engineering, finance, strategic growth, marketing and sales – finalizing quotes and speaking with brokers and clients. To break up the day, I walk through our shops and hangar multiple times to inspect our work, talk with our highly-talented employees and to ensure that we deliver an extraordinary experience and quality completion for our clientele.

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Matt Potts, former Corporate Counsel, Jetcraft
Location: London, UK

How long have you been at Jetcraft?

I have been with Jetcraft about ten months – since July of 2017

What are your responsibilities within the global Jetcraft team?

As Corporate Counsel my role is to work with the sales team to manage the legal aspect of our aircraft transactions. I just moved to London and my focus is to support our EMEA sales team. That includes drafting and reviewing agreements, advising on the risks that may be involved in a specific transaction, and making sure that the closings occur on time and efficiently. I am also handling the general legal matters for the office here in the UK as well.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

Part of what I like about working in our industry is that there really aren’t typical days. My goal everyday is to make sure that I am never the person that is holding up a deal. Whatever I need to do in a given day to make sure that is the case, is what I will end up doing.

What do you love most about your job?

As with a lot of people in aviation, I grew up just loving planes and I always wanted to work in the industry. As a kid, I thought that would lead me to be an aeronautical engineer, and then that evolved into me wanting to be a commercial airline pilot. I ended up in law school with a pilot’s license and an undergraduate degree in engineering. Now, I get to come to work every day and talk about planes while using every bit of my education.

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Product Overview

The Citation III, a midsize cabin business jet with a 2,054 nm range, was the first of Cessna’s model 650 series. It was designed for optimal speed, utilized light weight composites and smooth surfaces to cut down on drag, and featured an entirely new fuselage mated to a super-critical swept back wing and a T-Tail.

As of May 2018, 100% of the Citation III aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners. 21.2% are for sale with more than half of those (64%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 493 days. Over the past 12 months, the Citation III has averaged 3 full retail transactions per month.

Brief History

Cessna set out to build a private jet with impressive range and speed while keeping costs low and performance high, and thus the Citation III was created. The new model symbolized several milestones in the Citation program – it was Cessna’s entry into the high speed, medium corporate jet market, their first model to utilize Garrett (now Honeywell) and not P&W engines, and was a departure from the original structural design of all previous models. At the time of release the Citation III had the longest range and the fastest overall cruise speed of any midsized jet.

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Product Overview

The Gulfstream G550 is a large-cabin, ultra long-range business jet traveling at ranges in excess of 6,700 nm. It features up to four distinct living areas, three temperature zones, and a choice of 12 floor-plan configurations with seating for up to 19 passengers. The G550 is equipped with the Gulfstream PlaneView cockpit, based on the Honeywell Primus Epic architecture and display system. The PlaneView cockpit presents critical flight information on 14-inch (36 cm) liquid crystal displays arranged for easy interpretation. The latest in Head-Up Display technology integrated with the next-generation Gulfstream Enhanced Vision System (EVS) II. The aircraft is also equipped with commercial and military communications equipment to provide secure voice and data capability.

As of May 2018, 64% of the Gulfstream G550 aircraft were purchased new by their current owners, the other 36% pre-owned. 4.3% are for sale with the majority of those (79%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 133 days. Over the past 12 months, the Gulfstream G550 has averaged 7 full retail sale transactions per month.

Brief History

The G550 traces its roots to the Gulfstream GV which was the first ultra-long-range large-cabin business jet produced, which began delivering to customers in 1995. Most notable about the G550 is its 6,708 nm range, made possible in part by the Rolls Royce engines powering it. Gulfstream acquired G550 Type Certification in August 2003. In 2003 the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) awarded its prestigious Collier Trophy to the Gulfstream G550 team for technological and safety advances. A total of 581 Gulfstream G550 aircraft have been manufactured with 552 in operation worldwide.

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Matt Thurber, Editor-In-Chief, AIN Publications

How long have you been at your current organization?

18 years

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

As editor-in-chief of AIN Publications, I’m responsible for all editorial content in our various products. These range from AIN’s monthly print magazine, Aviation International News, to our business aviation, air transport, and defense e-newsletters, online content, and show daily issues.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

There is no typical day for this job, and what I do depends a great deal on my travel schedule. When I’m in the office, I write, edit, and proofread stories, consult with my colleagues on upcoming projects, work with AIN’s management team on business development and strategy, and deal with normal office challenges. I travel frequently to visit the companies that we cover in AIN’s publications, including to fly new and interesting airplanes, and during these trips I try to visit as many people as possible to learn what’s new in our industry.

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Gray skies and threatening thunderstorms couldn’t dampen spirits at EBACE 2018 in Geneva. The mood was buoyant and the good feeling that came out of NBAA-BACE in October has clearly extended to Europe, as demonstrated by the show’s big announcements.

The Show Daily publications touted the unveiling of Bombardier’s Global 5500 and 6500 aircraft as ‘business aviation’s best-kept secret’, bringing upgraded options to the super-large and ultra-long-range market segments. Concurrently, Rolls Royce announced its re-entry to business aviation with the Pearl engine that will power the two Bombardier business jets.

Embraer’s press conference saw the announcement that the OEM is to become the first business jet customer for ViaSat’s Ka-band in-flight connectivity service, delivering 16MBps to the aircraft, enabling passengers to stream content and live TV – a bonus for the longer journeys that passengers are making.

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Product Overview

The Learjet 40XR is an upgraded version of the Learjet 40 with improvements in hot-and-high performance, climb rates and faster long range cruise speeds resulting in a range of more than 240 nm. The increases are due to the upgraded Honeywell “BR” engines from the “AR” used on the Learjet 40.

As of February 2018, 70% of Learjet 40XR aircraft were purchased pre-owned by their current owners, the other 30% new. 10.8% are for sale with the majority of those (90%) under an exclusive broker agreement. When for sale, the average time on the market is 275 days.

Brief History

Derived from the Lear 45, the Learjet 40 and 40XR are 24.5 inches shorter and have a maximum take-off weight that is 150 lbs. lighter. These two characteristics increase performance and lower operational costs. The Lear 40 aircraft received FAA certification in July 2003, as an amendment to the Type Certification of the Lear 45, and ended production in 2009. The Learjet 40XR went into operation in 2005 and ended production in 2012. A total of 93 Learjet 40XR aircraft have been manufactured with all of them currently in operation.

Worldwide Appeal

There are 93 Learjet 40XR aircraft in operation today. Most of these are wholly owned (89), with 2 in fractional ownership and 2 in shared ownership. 10.8% are currently leased. North America has the largest percentage of wholly owned Learjet 40XR aircraft (76%), followed by South America (18%).

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